Automatic pool covers, the subject of this invention, may be used in swimming pools of any mode of construction, but will probably find most application in vinyl lined pools and in upgrading existing pools.
Use of an automatic pool cover will provide considerable cost and aesthetic benefits in upgrading existing pools, since the automatic pool cover will provide a new vinyl surface as well as the designed cover feature. Thus, existing pools can be upgraded without even emptying the pool. In many cases, emptying a weakened in-ground pool will cause complete failure due to the external hydrostatic pressure. Use of the automatic pool cover in such a pool may extend its useful life considerably.
The automatic pool cover consists of two sections (FIG. 1B);
(a) the pool cover section with shape and dimensions defined by the surface configuration of the pool, and
(b) a membrane section with a shape defined by the interior surface of the pool and the shape of the pool cover.
The cover and membrane sections serve also to separate two compartments in the pool, namely the upper stored liquid compartment and a lower balancing liquid compartment. Water can be transferred by means of the external circulating pump from the balancing to the stored liquid compartment and vice versa. In the operating position all of the water is on the upper storage compartment, while in the covered position all of the water is in the balancing compartment. Thus, the pool can be maintained full at all times.